


Too Far Gone

by pleasanthell



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 06:10:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2457743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasanthell/pseuds/pleasanthell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season 3 premiere fix</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Far Gone

Not hearing from Sara the first night should have been the first warning sign. After the second night, Nyssa decided to go see for herself. Part of her knew that Sara would never leave again without telling her, but part of her was terrified that that was exactly what happened.

However, when she got to Starling, she found that what had actually happened was much worse. She found the Lances, Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle all standing around what used to be an empty grave. Nyssa felt her gut wretch. The anger came first. She lingered in the shadows of the cemetery with her bow in hand. When she felt strong enough, she walked to the group.

“Who did this,” Nyssa’s voice was dark and heavy, rumbling like a storm.

Oliver had an arrow in his hand. It was one that had pierced Sara’s abdomen – one of the arrows that killed her. It was black from tip to feathers. Nyssa knew exactly who it belonged to. She stood still, looking at the grave for a moment. She asked Oliver, “How long?”

Oliver looked questioningly at her, “A little over a day.”

“I will send my men to retrieve her,” Nyssa turned on her heel and walked off, “We haven’t much time.”

“Whoa, what are you talking about?” Quentin was the first one to catch up with Nyssa, “You’re not taking her anywhere.”

Nyssa swallowed, “I have broken my oath to you. If you will allow it, there is a chance that I may still be able to save Sara. I need to find the man who took her life and bring her bod….bring her with me.”

“What are you talking about?” Quentin looked at Nyssa, “She’s dead. We just buried her.”

“If you do not step out of the way in my quest to attempt save Sara, I will go through you,” Nyssa growled. “If it is not too late, I will bring her back alive. I will return in two days time. I will bring Sara back with me for a proper reunion or a proper burial.”

Of course Oliver followed Nyssa and Laurel followed Oliver. The fight between Nyssa and the man who killed Sara was barely a fight at all. Nyssa ranted the entire time about being betrayed. She yelled and screamed. She quietly spoke in his ear. Then she tied him up, hanging him on a fire escape by the ropes on his hands.

She stripped him of his cloak, the medallion on his neck and then his sword. Nyssa bend the sword and threw it at his feet. She cursed him in a language Oliver couldn’t hear from the rooftop her was on and Laurel couldn’t understand from around the corner of the alley Nyssa was torturing the man in.

Nyssa pulled a phone out of a deep pocket in her cloak and made a call. Then she walked away from the man toward Laurel. Laurel didn’t try to hide. She asked if she was sure that was the man that killed Sara.

Nyssa nodded solemnly. She looked at the medallion she had taken from the man in her hand. She hand her gloved fingers over it before offering it to Laurel. “I broke a promise I made to your father. I am trying to make it right. Please see that he gets this.”

Laurel took the golden medallion in her hands. It was heavy and Laurel was sure it was solid gold. The depiction on the front of the medallion was that of a monstrous demon, on the back an inscription in Arabic.

“I do not want to get your hopes up, but I swear that I will do everything in my power to return Sara to you,” Nyssa looked into Laurel’s watering eyes.

Nyssa walked Laurel somewhere she was sure would be safe before picking up a motorcycle. It took her a few minutes, but she lost Oliver who had been tailing her the entire time.

Nyssa drove to a small road outside of town where the man she had beaten was being loaded into the cargo bay of a small plane and Sara’s casket was being taken through the door.

“I’m coming with you.”

Nyssa turned around and found that she had been followed. Laurel was standing next to Sara’s motorcycle. Nyssa swallowed, looking her over. Then she nodded.

The flight was silent. After takeoff the members of the League that were transporting them went quiet. They disappeared into the back of the plane, leaving Nyssa and Laurel with the casket. Nyssa had yet to break eye contact with the casket when Laurel finally spoke, “Where are we going?”

Nyssa blinked her eyes away and looked to the eldest Lance sister. “It is called a Lazarus Pit. There is one in Central America. That is where we are traveling to.”

“What does it do?” Laurel asked, quietly.

“Well,” Nyssa licked her lips, “It has certain restorative properties.”

“It can bring people back from the dead?” Laurel made the jump that Nyssa was building up to.

Nyssa nodded slowly, “It has.”

“Why are you being so cautious in telling me that?” Laurel tilted her head, “Has it failed before?”

“No,” Nyssa inhaled softly, “However, it has never been tried after two days.”

“And we’ll be getting there right at two days,” Laurel softly added. She nodded to herself, looking at her lap. Then her eyes drifted to the casket, “We have to try though.”

“We will try,” Nyssa felt herself getting choked up.

Laurel reached to the seat next to herself and took Nyssa’s hand. “If anyone can defy the odds, it’s Sara.”

The rest of the flight was quiet. They passed over borders without detection or stops. The plane landed on a deserted road near a beach. They were met with large van at the end of the road. The League members carefully moved the casket to the van and Laurel got in the back. Then the man was thrown into the back of the van with a hood over his head. He didn’t move, but he was breathing so Laurel figured her was knocked out. Nyssa got behind the wheel and that is where they parted with the League.

“It’s a secret?” Laurel asked as Nyssa started driving.

Nyssa nodded. “I am the keeper of the Lazarus Pits. I am the only one who knows where this one is. It’s... more potent.”

“Why did you bring him?” Laurel asked, not gesturing, but knowing Nyssa would know who she was talking about.

“Just in case the Lazarus Pit required a sacrifice,” Nyssa answered coldly.

It was another half hour in the van before they pulled off of the road. There weren’t any windows in the back of the van so she had no idea where they were going. She looked around Nyssa’s seat through the windshield and saw them driving toward a cave surrounded by tall tropical plants.

“Is this it?” Laurel asked, knowing that it was.

The cave was deep and they started driving down a hill. It was muddy and dark. If Laurel’s only focus hadn’t been her sister’s body in the van next to her, she would have worried about how they were going to get out.

As the daylight faded behind them, Laurel was expecting Nyssa to turn on the headlights. However, she didn’t and kept driving confidently and a little quickly for Laurel’s taste. Laurel climbed into the front seat and asked Nyssa why she hadn’t turned on the lights.

“The traps are light sensitive,” Nyssa said into the darkness. “Do not fret. I have driven this path many times.”

Laurel put her seatbelt on just in case and placed her hand on Sara’s coffin behind her. It was a few more minutes of turns and downhill that Laurel started to see a light greenish glowing ahead of them. As they drove closer, the glowing got brighter. Laurel’s eyes widened as she saw the large pool of what looked to be water in front of them.

Nyssa stopped the van at the edge of the pool and turned it off. She looked in the back and saw the coffin glowing in the light of the Lazarus Pit.

Laurel was entranced by the water. It was glowing bright green with what looked to be tiny blue lights floating in it.

Nyssa got out and Laurel followed. Nyssa stopped at the back of the van and saw Laurel nervously looking at the white paint in the glowing cave.

“I shall retrieve Sara,” Nyssa stated. “You may stand by the front of the vehicle.”

Laurel knew it was best. She didn’t know if she could handle watching Nyssa open the coffin and get Sara’s body out. She moved to the edge of the pit and looked into it. It was mesmerizing.

Nyssa almost couldn’t handle opening the coffin. She had to take a moment to compose herself before gathering Sara’s pale, limp body in her arms. It struck Nyssa how cold Sara was. Nyssa stepped out of the back of the van with Sara in her arms. Sara was wearing the same thing she wore when she died because dressing Sara up in a frilly dress didn’t seem like something Sara would have wanted.

Laurel choked on a sob when she saw Nyssa carrying the body of her sister. She remembered watching Sara fall from the building onto the pavement in front of her. Tears flowed freely down her face as she watched Nyssa walk into the Lazarus Pit with her sister in her arms.

Nyssa looked down at Sara’s face as she sunk deeper into the Lazarus Pit. When she was waist deep she could feel some of her own wounds healing quickly. She just hoped it could do the same for Sara. Once Sara’s body was completely submerged, Nyssa rested Sara on a flat rock that topped out about a foot from the surface of the water. Sara was completely visible, but completely submerged.

Then Nyssa walked out of the Lazarus Pit to wait.

“How long does it usually take?” Laurel asked with her arms crossed.

Nyssa swallowed, “The last time it took an hour. The time before that it took ten minutes.” Nyssa licked her lips. “We’ll just have to wait.”

After two minutes of waiting there was banging in the back of the van. Nyssa attended to it, dragging the large man out of the van, gagging him and tying him to a rock.

Nyssa rejoined Laurel on the banks of the Lazarus Pit. She took off her cloak and armor leaving only a tank top and her armored pants. Nyssa knelt down at the edge of the Lazarus Pit praying for any kind of movement in the middle of the pool.

Laurel put her hand on her forehead and looked down at the ground. She watched the edge of the water lie still against the muddy banks. She closed her eyes for a moment and wondered if her father had found that she was gone yet. She didn’t want to tell him what was happening just in case it didn’t work. He wouldn’t be able to handle another heartbreak.

Laurel’s eyes slowly opened. She watched the liquid, entranced by the color and the glowing properties. As she watched, the tiny blue lights seemed to start moving. Laurel furrowed her brow. That hadn’t happened before. It took a moment to realize it looked like they were moving because there were ripples in the water.

Laurel’s head snapped up so that she could look at the middle of the Lazarus Pit where her sister’s body was submerged. It didn’t look like much, but there was a ripple. Laurel touched Nyssa’s shoulder, although Nyssa had been staring at her the entire time.

Nyssa slowly rose to her feet, her heart racing. There were ripples before –

The calm of the water erupted. The liquid in the Lazarus Pit flew forward as Sara sat up forcefully, sucking her first breath of air in two days.

Laurel ran into the pit to her sister, wading through the water to get to Sara. Sara was taking in her surrounding when her sister threw her arms around her shoulders.

“Oh my god,” Laurel breathed out, crying openly. “You’re alive.”

“I am,” Sara smiled softly and put her hands on her sister’s back. When Laurel pulled away to look at her, Sara looked down at herself and then around at the cave. “This must be a Lazarus Pit so I must have…”

“You died,” Laurel couldn’t stop a smile as she took Sara’s face in her hands, “But you’re alive now.”

“I don’t remember…” Sara trailed off looking at the water. Her eyes shot to Laurel, “The earthquakes. Is Dad okay?”

Laurel was confused, “Earthquakes? Those were over a year ago.”

Sara looked over her sister’s face, “I’ve heard that sometimes people in the Lazarus Pits don’t remember things.” She pushed her wet hair out of her face and seemed to remember sometime massive immediately, “Nyssa. Where’s Nyssa?”

Laurel pointed to the banks of the Lazarus Pit. Sara stood up on wobbly legs off of the stone bed in the middle of the pit. Laurel was her crutch as she walked toward Nyssa who was meeting them in the middle.

Nyssa had a watery smile and tear filled eyes when Sara looked upon her with recognition. “I was afraid you wouldn’t remember me.”

Sara smiled softly and pulled Nyssa into a hug, “How could you think I’d ever forget?”

Nyssa pulled the casket out of the van and helped Sara and Laurel in. Nyssa disappeared for a few minutes, making all kinds of noise in the cave before getting in the driver’s seat. “We have to get you back to Starling as soon as possible. There are many people there who will want to know you’re alright.”

As they drove off, Nyssa looked in the rearview mirror. She could see the coffin submerged in the water where her father lay entombed to a sentence of drowning in the waters of the Lazarus Pit only to be brought back to life to start the entire circle over.

As they drove out of the cave without lights, Sara held her sister who wouldn’t let her go.

“So you know about the Arrow?” Sara asked.

Laurel nodded against Sara’s shoulder, “I’ve been to Oliver’s hide out a few times. I know about what you do – did too. You saved my life a few times before I figured it out.”

Sara smiled into the dark, “So we’ve been in Starling City? Nyssa, did I introduce you to my Dad yet?”

Nyssa inhaled and exhaled carefully. She needed to focus on the treacherous road they were on and the steep drops on each side of the narrow road instead of the pain that question caused her. She answered diplomatically, “I have met your father.”

“Why did you say it like that?” Sara asked, knowing a deviation in Nyssa’s voice anywhere.

Laurel reached up and stroked Sara’s damp hair. She wanted to calm her because she could feel a tense and painful moment coming on riding on such a joyous occasion.

“Nyssa?” Sara asked, as they reached the beginning of daylight.

Nyssa knew that she had to tell Sara. She would remember eventually anyway, “You left me. You left Nanda Parbat in the middle of the night to seek out your family. I woke up one morning and…you were gone.”

Sara swallowed hard. It didn’t make sense to her. She shook her head, “No. That doesn’t make sense why would I do that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nyssa shook her head, “It’s in the past.”

“Are we…together still?” Sara asked. She deftly moved to the passenger’s seat as light flooded the van. Laurel moved to kneel behind the console between Sara and Nyssa, not wanting to be more than a few inches from her sister.

Nyssa stopped the van just outside the cave and looked down, “No.”

Sara put her hand to her chest. She wasn’t sure she’d ever really had her heartbroken until that minute. “Why not?”

Nyssa shook her head, “It doesn’t matter. You’re alive and you’re going to go home to your family.”

“What about you?” Sara asked. “Whatever happened between us…whatever I did…you can’t leave.”

“I am going to accompany you back to Starling,” Nyssa promised and took off driving again.

Sara decided to leave it alone for a little while. She stayed in the front seat, but turned to Laurel. She began to ask Laurel about her life. She asked about her job and who she was dating. She asked about their father. By the time Laurel filled Sara in, they were back at the plane.

The League members that were waiting around the plane were elated to see that Sara was okay. They all hugged her and helped her onto the plane. Sara heard a few of them ask where the boss was. Nyssa told them that he was gone and there was a new boss. They all seemed happy in the change in leadership.

“What does that mean?” Sara asked when Nyssa sat down in the plane on the couch next to her and it started to taxi down the small abandoned road. “New boss?”

“You were…” Nyssa swallowed, “Killed by my father.” She looked away and then looked back at Sara, “A large faction of the League was enraged at his betrayal. They have now all sworn their allegiance to me.”

Sara looked over Nyssa face. She could see the pain and the anguish. She reached over and touched Nyssa’s face momentarily forgetting that they weren’t together anymore. “Where is Ra’s?”

“He’s gone,” Nyssa stated with finality. She closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of Sara’s hand on her cheek. Even after they left Starling, they were close to becoming lovers again, but had not quite gotten there when Sara had to go back to Starling.

Sara pulled Nyssa into her arms, “I’m so sorry.”

It hurt Nyssa that her father had betrayed her like that, trying to use Sara’s death to break her, but Nyssa overcame the sadness and covered it with anger like her father taught her. His teachings were ultimately his demise.

Laurel fell asleep on the plane ride back to Starling. Sara was leaning on her sister, but stayed awake. She looked over at Nyssa who was distracted by the clouds out the window.

“I remember leaving,” Sara quietly broke the silence in the cabin.

Nyssa didn’t look at Sara immediately. Instead she took a moment to reflect through the clouds and then turned back to Sara, “I’m glad you’re regaining your memory.”

“I could have done without that one,” Sara sat up out of Laurel’s arms and leaned toward Nyssa. “I’m sorry for that.” Sara looked out the window and then back at Nyssa with a light smile, “It actually does feel like a lifetime ago.”

Nyssa quirked an eyebrow at the attempt at a joke.

“Too soon?” Sara grinned.

Nyssa rolled her eyes, but smiled faintly.

Sara picked up Nyssa’s hands, “I’m sorry for leaving you. It was easier to pretend that I didn’t still love than to cry myself to sleep missing you. I’m sorry for all that.”

“I’m sorry as well,” Nyssa looked down at Sara’s hands.

Sara smiled again, “I do remember that you kidnapped my mother.”

Nyssa ducked her head, “Not my finest hour.”

“I’ve seen you do a lot worse for a lot less,” Sara leaned forward and kissed Nyssa, “And I’m sorry that I didn’t kiss you the second we got on the boat leaving Starling.” She pressed her forehead to Nyssa’s and stole another kiss.

Nyssa closed her eyes and exhaled softly. Despite what was happening with the split of the League and the unfortunate circumstances, she couldn’t feel anything, but happy up in the clouds with Sara’s lips pressed against her own.

 


End file.
